Mama in the City

A blog about raising my family in downtown Vancouver

The Pros Of Apartment Living

There are some obvious cons to living in an apartment with two children. The most obvious one would be the smallness of the actual living space; I think that I've made that work by leaning more towards the minimalist side and also doing a purge of random stuff on a regular basis. I also don't buy excess stuff for my kids which really helps to keep the apartment on the lighter side.

I really know how easy it is to buy buy buy when it comes to children, plus all of the stuff they are gifted through out the year. However, it drives me batty when there is too much stuff hanging around, especially toys with small pieces. Now, if I had a house with a big basement that might be another story all together.




A big pro to living in an apartment with children is how easy it is to baby proof things. There are no worrisome stairs to barricade with safety gates as Josie starts toddling around (and I think this girl of ours might be an early walker). We don't have an elaborate kitchen with dozens of cupboards that need to be sealed up. Actually, with Ben we didn't even seal up our cupboards. The only baby proofing we did with him was to remove a fancy lamp (because we loved it and didn't want it to break) and put in those little covers in all the electrical sockets.

Another big positive to apartment living is that due to the overall smallness I can basically see my children all the time. ALL THE TIME! I can see what their little hands are touching and what naughty things they are getting into (like pulling the dogs hair). I can also plop my baby on the living room floor and walk into the kitchen and wave at her.





Josie with her one basket of toys. I keep the bigger stash in a closet and swap them out sporadically. This keeps things tidy and the baby seems to keep interested too.


Even better, at the end of the day I can scoop up all of their prized objects and place them into their designated baskets and stash them behind the couch. It is a great feeling while I laze on the couch to look around and for a glimmer of a second it is somewhat put together.


This post was inspired by mama Mitzi over at East Van Baby who asked me, 'what are you doing to baby proof?'. I guess the overall answer would be, 'not much!'. At least, not too much right now but I have this feeling that Josie might be a bit more curious about her home than Ben was.





11 comments:

huntersprize said...

We didn't baby proof much with Jacob either. Just one cabinet where we had glass bowls and he managed to break one before we even got the locks in! We do live in a small space now and I will have to block off the stairs but I already have to lock in the dog so not much will be different.

August 10, 2012 at 2:21 PM  
Carolee Beckham said...

we're about to move... to another apartment, but one that is slightly bigger. our little guy will finally have his own room and i can't wait.

August 10, 2012 at 3:30 PM  
Amanda said...

We have stairs now, which will need gates for baby #2 later on, but I agree about small spaces - I pretty much always know what Lilah is up to!

August 10, 2012 at 4:58 PM  
Mrs Loquacious said...

I live in a modest-sized apartment but I find we will still need to baby-proof. Our layout has bedrooms separated from the living area, and the living area separated from the kitchen. And I can't see her across rooms!

Are you putting anything on your drawers or kitchen cupboards? I'm thinking (believe it or not) of buying a gate for the kitchen. No stairs, but just the idea that she might burn herself on a hot oven or burner scares me to death.

And then there are all of the plug ins, and table corners and wall edges - are you lining any of them? Baby L literally *just* hit her head (while rolling) on the edge of the entertainment unit base (under Hubbs' watch). He is beside himself about it although she's fine. But it could have been bad... yet another edge to protect her from. *sigh*

August 10, 2012 at 5:12 PM  

We pretty much have had to be child friendly already so there won't be too many changes. We used to have lovely glass coffee table cubes with sharp sharp corners. Those are now history and we've had to change our living room lay out with coffee tables that can come and go and be nested together and put out of sight too.
I did have a playpen with Ben and would put him in it while I was cooking or something like that. Might haul it out again for Josie.

August 10, 2012 at 5:56 PM  
mitzi said...

yay for apartment living!


i totally understand every single thing you have said about not living in a house with toys everywhere! I actually got that 3sprouts bag idea from you.


you're lucky you have carpets though, we have floors and now that Maxi is sitting up..ive had to catch him several times about to fall back and whack his head on the hard surface. it may be a painful interim until his balance strengthens.

August 10, 2012 at 9:18 PM  

Yes! Back with Ben we lived somewhere with hardwood and he would not crawl. Then we moved to our current place and he just took off on the carpet!

August 10, 2012 at 10:50 PM  
Swank Mama said...

What a great idea with the toys! If you come over to my house right now, it looks like it's been hit by a hurricane AND it looks like a toy factory. Out of hand!!
PS: Josie is sooo big now!

August 12, 2012 at 10:07 AM  
OS/NS Mom said...

Absolutely! It is so much easier to baby proof when you're living in an apartment. We do, live an apartment, and I would be terrified and overwhelmed to deal with baby proofing a house!

August 13, 2012 at 4:58 AM  
Lauren @ http://crumbbums.com/ said...

There is something so freeing about not having a lot of stuff. And I'm with you- we have done minimal baby-proofing (a baby gate and electrical outlet covers) even though we live in a house.

August 13, 2012 at 5:35 PM  

Thank you! Some how I feel a bit better when I hear that from other parents :)

August 14, 2012 at 10:35 PM  

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